“The unexamined life is not worth living.” (Plato). Socrates lived a life of poverty with
the sole pursuit of truth and to help those around him find it. He believed that he was not a wise
man and travelled to find a true wise man. Socrates journey eventually landed him in front of a
juror to condemn him. During this trial, Socrates refuted the claims that he was a corruptor of the
youth and taught them to not believe in the gods. Still he was sentenced to death. Today his
teachings bring us closer to self-knowledge.
The event that started Socrates involvement in philosophy was the statement made by the
oracle of Delphi that he was the wisest man in all of Athens. Gods do not lie. This would mean
that Socrates is indeed a wise man but he disagrees. Socrates sees wisdom of humans as
worthless. If a man says he is wise, he is not. Socrates understands that he will never know
everything. Accepting that he is not wise makes him possess wisdom. Over Socrates’ lifetime, he
found many men that were self-professed as wise and decided to challenge their beliefs. First, he
found the politician. These men were unjust but had many followers believing them to be true.
Socrates was once involved in a trial of ten naval generals who failed to go back to the battlefield
to retrieve the soldiers during a storm. Socrates was the only one arguing against the death
penalty. He said the trial was illegal and stood firm in his opinion even after his life was
threatened. “The true champion of justice, if he intends to survive even for a short time, must
necessarily confine himself to private life and leave politics alone.” (Plato) Secondly, he
questioned the great poets on the depth and meaning of their writing. The answers given were
not as knowledgeable as the readers of the poetry. These poets esteemed as being wise men were
only good at writing when a whim or inspiration suddenly struck. Their readers had more
wisdom. Thirdly, Socrates went to question craftsmen known for their wisdom. He found these
men had considerable wisdom regarding their crafts but failed when they believed they had
wisdom elsewhere. The wisdom these men possessed led them to an overinflated view of their
contributions. “But I observed that even the good artisans fell into the same error as the poets;
because they were good workmen they thought that they also knew all sorts of high matters, and
this defect in them overshadowed their wisdom” (Plato) The gods led Socrates to lead a life
questioning and earning many enemies. After a long life of cross examination, charges found
Socrates at the age of seventy.
Socrates was standing trial for corrupting the youth of Athens. Socrates had a following
of many rich, young men with a lot of time to spend on Socrates’ philosophical discussions.
These youths would hear Socrates questioning celebrated people and politicians of society. They
gained insight and chose to question on their own leading to a huge issue. The celebrated people
didn’t like being questioned and decided to blame Socrates for instructing on wisdom and
